Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Princess and the Frog characters.

--

Hear the Bells

Tiana was never one to remain idle for hours at a time.

Usually, she kept herself occupied on Saturday mornings. Although, as of recently, with the excitement of her engagement to the Crown Prince of Maldonia, she found herself being fawned over constantly; on their outings, Tiana and her fiancé were often stopped and questioned by curiously excited passersby that, while normally would not have paid any attention to the private lives of people they did not know, were exceptionally interested in their affairs.

"Are ya'll really getting married?" some of them queried. "When's the big day?"

At first, the attention was actually really exciting, aside from the persistent flashes of reporters' cameras, but she expected nothing less from the press. That, and Naveen assured her that she would get used to the incessant attention. Besides, Tiana was, in fact, on her way to becoming recognized as a royal, an American princess!

But then, the extended family members, started calling. It was as though they planned to purposely call home right when Tiana had to go work on the restaurant, right when she had to sort out things for the wedding, right in the middle of cooking dinner, right in the middle of anything that required her attention. Family she hadn't even seen or heard from since childhood were calling the house, asking for her and congratulating her, reminding her not to forget to invite them, at least to the reception. Now they wanted to catch up with her. Now they wanted to see how she was doing. They spoke to her for hours. Hours that could have been spent working on the restaurant, or sorting out things for the wedding, or fixing dinner. Not sitting idly on the phone, simply talking. Oh no, not when there were so many other things that needed to be done.

Of course, there were also Tiana's mother, and her best friend, Charlotte, who, when they first heard the news of Tiana and the Prince, did nothing but talk and brag animatedly about the engagement for weeks. Eudora got the whole neighborhood together, to throw the royal couple (Eudora was absolutely tickled by her daughter being considered a Princess) an engagement party. It would never be as glamorous as anything offered by the extravagant characters of the Maldonian nobility, but it was appreciated all the same.

The wedding dress was easily the item of discussion for Charlotte and Eudora at any hour of the day. Charlotte made it her priority to schedule Tiana's fittings (the bride deemed them numerous and unnecessary after her mother got her exact measurements) with her mother. They were of the utmost importance, for Charlotte at least, who claimed Tiana would get married in a potato sack, if it weren't for her and Eudora's enthusiasm. Certainly, true love was nice and wonderful, and the greatest of all emotions, but the actual wedding was of great importance, also. And Charlotte would be darned if on her best friend's wedding day, Tiana was not dressed like the Princess that she was.

While she appreciated Charlotte's bubbly initiative, and her mother's eagerness to make her dress for her, Tiana truly despised the fittings.

The constant measuring and re-measuring irked her. The different fabrics that were layered over her, only to be quickly removed in a hasty revision of dress' design, itched and tickled Tiana in the heat of her bedroom. And the pins. She wasn't sure if Charlotte sincerely wanted to input her opinions on how the dress was going, or if she was amused by her jerky movements every time her mother stuck her with the dreaded things.

When there were so many more important things that needed her attention, Tiana felt as though her Saturdays would have been better spent if she had been planning other aspects of the wedding. The dress did not need to consume so much of her attention, not with the guest list still unfinished, and the reception menu still unplanned, and-

"Ouch! Mama!" A shriek emerged from the depths of Tiana's bedroom, loud and shrill.

"Stop movin' so much, baby cakes." Eudora worked her way up from the hem of her daughter's dress. "I'm tryin' to stick in the last of these pins."

"I'm tryin' to be as still as I can," Tiana started, slightly annoyed. She held her arms out as her mother picked at her sleeves. "But it's gettin' mighty difficult, over here."

"I think I might have to-"

"Ouch!"

"-cut the sleeves out entirely," Eudora said, pulling out the pins. She caught the frilly fabric that once veiled Tiana's shoulders, before it fell to the floor. "What do you think, Lottie?"

Charlotte, seated at Tiana's bed, watched as Eudora work with great interest. "Hmm..." She pondered out loud. She put a finger to her chin, considering the possible options. She got up, to get a closer look at Eudora's work. "Tia, honey, do you mind spinnin' around, again? I wanna see the back of your dress."

The disgruntled model, situated up on the stool in the center of the room, groaned, and rolled her eyes. "How many times are y'all gonna turn me around in this thing?" She flinched as her mother continued to stick pins into the waist of her dress.

"Tia!" Charlotte reprimanded, putting a hand on her hip. "This is your wedding dress we're talkin' about, sugar! Everything has to be perfect!"

"It will be perfect, Lottie!" Tiana faced her mother. "I have a lot of faith in you, Mama. You've never disappointed any of your customers." She smiled at Eudora, who kept her focus on the dress.

"Just turn around for her, baby cakes."

"Mama!"

"Tia!" Charlotte exclaimed. She stamped her foot, slightly annoyed with her. "Don't get cross with your Mama! Now turn around!"

Tiana reluctantly spun around, slowly, so as not to disturb the position of the pins. "You've already seen it six times in the last fifteen minutes," she muttered, exasperated. "It hasn't changed much since then."

"Oh, Tia," Charlotte sighed, only half listening to the grumbles of her friend. She turned her attention to Eudora. "Miss Dora," she started. "Can I see it with the sleeves again really quickly?"

Eudora held the fabric over Tiana's shoulders. "How does it look?"

"Straighten out your shoulders, sugar," Charlotte said, smoothing her palms over the width of her friend's back. "You're hunchin'."

"Lottie..." Tiana sighed. "Naveen and I are supposed to talk to the construction people about the restaurant today! There's a gaping hole in the ceiling just right above where the kitchen is supposed to be. I'm not trying to put that off for later, and we're already behind schedule with this fitting-"

Tiana attempted to lower her arms, but her mother poked her again with a pin, a probable reminder for her not to go into overdrive and get completely immersed into her work.

"Ouch!"

"Shh, Tia," Charlotte shushed. "I'm here tryin' to form an artistic opinion and you're just babblin' on and on, cloudin' my thoughts."

"I'm sorry I've got work -Mama!- to do, Lottie! Can we please get a move on?"

Charlotte completely ignored her friend's wishes, making sure to take her time before composing an answer. "Well, Miss Dora," she said, softly, fingers fluttering over Tiana's sleeveless shoulders. "You know how much I adore a puffy sleeve..."

Tiana groaned, slowly lowering her arms.

"...but I do believe you should go sleeveless with this one." She giggled. "And with your shoulders, honey, you might as well go completely strapless! Look at you!" She highlighted the curves in her friend's shoulder's with her fingers. "Look at her shoulders, Miss Dora! Doesn't she have the perfect figure?"

Tiana rolled her eyes. "I'm not going strapless, Lottie. Mama ain't fittin' me for no undergarments."

A small smile started to take shape in the little corners on Charlotte's face. "Speakin' of undergarments..."

Eudora smirked, knowing where Charlotte was going to direct the conversation.

"Well," Charlotte started. "What are you wearin' on your honeymoon, Tia?"

"Lottie. You aren't seriously asking me that question."

"Tia! It isn't nothin' but jabberin' between sisters! You can tell me!"

"It's a private affair, Lottie!" Tiana exclaimed firmly, but her cheeks began to heat up, and she felt a small smirk creep onto her face. "Now you don't have anything to say, Mama?"

"Don't look at me," Eudora said. "Act like I'm not even here."

"Mama!"

Eudora continued pushing pins into the fabric, quietly observing the babble between her daughter and her best friend.

She had been waiting for this day for almost twenty years. Her baby, in a wedding dress? Her baby, all grown up and getting married? It was like a dream, or like the last page of one of the old fairy tales she used to read to the girls when they were younger. "And they lived happily ever after," riding off into the sunset. But how could it possibly be a fairy tale when it was happening so close to home, at home?

The restaurant that they had spent many nights dreaming about and praying for was finally theirs. The dream had come true; it had been completely materialized. Granted, the sugar mill was still in its transition stage, and Tiana and Naveen were still working very hard on the place, but their progress was coming along wonderfully. Eudora could actually see the makings of a fine eatery, not that she expected anything less from her hardworking baby girl.

Oh, James. Eudora put a hand to her heart, and sighed silently to herself. James would have wanted to see this, definitely. The acquisition of the restaurant, the excitement of the engagement... Once the dress was finished, the little princess from Tiana's youth would be revived within her. When no one would be looking, she'd quickly fix her tiara in the mirror, position her wedding veil, and twirl around in her dress, just for a moment, before making those strides down the church aisle, glittering and radiant, emanating a royal glow.

Eudora smiled to herself, imagining James, arm in arm with their baby girl, walking her down the aisle, leading her up to her future husband.

She chuckled quietly, thinking of the term, her future husband. Tiana, a married woman? Maybe those grandchildren she'd been praying for would soon be on their way.

"I hope you don't wear that atrocious, plain thing you got on now!" Charlotte declared loudly, as Eudora helped Tiana out of the dress. She tugged at the straps of Tiana's slip, and let them hit her shoulders with a light slap. "You don't want to bore your husband to sleep."

"Would you stop that?" Tiana flicked Charlotte's hands away from her straps. "I can assure you that he will be very entertained, Lottie."

"You got a new slip?!" Charlotte suggested, squealing. "And you didn't tell me! We were s'posed to go shoppin' together!"

"No," Tiana said, firmly. "Naveen isn't marryin' me for what I wear to bed."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Whether or not that's the case," she began, handing Tiana her work clothes. "It can't hurt y'all if you try some color." She mused, mind straying. "What about pink! Doesn't Naveen love pink?"

"You love pink, honey," Tiana reminded her, putting on her dress. "Naveen's favorite color is green."

"Oh, Tia, everyone loves pink."

Eudora chuckled, folding the wedding dress over her arm. "Pink is universally accepted, baby cakes. Whatever's gonna get me my grand kids."

Tiana rolled her eyes, slightly embarrassed. "You just agreein' with her left and right today, aren't you, Mama?"

"It's 'cause I make sense!" Charlotte exclaimed, taking her friend's hands in hers. "You're gettin' married, Tia," she added softly, eyes brimming with tears. She could feel herself getting sentimental; she squeezed Tiana's hands. "This is a once in a lifetime type of thing, sugar!" She sighed, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Aw, Lottie..."

Facing her, Charlotte put her hands on Tiana's shoulders. "It seems like just yesterday, we were little girls, wishin' on stars under the magnolia tree..."

"Readin' fairy tales, searchin' for Prince Charming, kissin' frogs," Eudora added, smiling, reminiscing. "The good old days."

"Mama, you know I was not goin' around kissin' no frogs back in the day!" exclaimed Tiana, defiantly. She put a hand on her hip.

"Seriously!" Charlotte cried out. "And what irks me the most, Tia, is that you weren't even lookin' for a prince when you kissed your frog! You got him on your first try!"

Tiana smiled, shrugging.

"Do you know how many frogs I went through over the years? And I still haven't found my prince!"

"Oh Lottie," Tiana sighed. This wasn't the first time they had that conversation. "You don't need to kiss a frog to find true love."

"And I'm sure Cinderella's gonna tell me that true love ain't about the right shoes, either!"

Tiana stared at her friend, straight faced.

"What?"

"Lottie." Tiana raised an eyebrow.

"It isn't?"

"No."

"But you can never go wrong with the right shoes!"

Tiana sighed, making her way out of her bedroom, and into the kitchen. "You can't plan love, Lottie." At the stove, she turned up the fire under a pot of gumbo that sat, half prepared, waiting, while she was trying on her wedding dress.

"Sure you can!" Charlotte retaliated, defiant.

Eudora followed the two into the kitchen, making her way to her sewing corner. She chuckled, thinking about her own relationship with James, how they met, how resistant she was before they went out. She knew this from experience: you could not plan love, no matter how hard you tried.

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that, Lottie."

"Miss Dora!"

Tiana stuck out her tongue, playfully. "Told you," she said, seasoning the gumbo. "Why don't you give ol' Travis a shot? The boy's already head over heels in love with you."

It was Charlotte's turn to stare at her friend, although, clearly, she was utterly disgusted with Tiana's proposition.

"He's icky, Tia! Utterly repulsive! And he's as thin as a flagpole! Unfortunately, he's not as sturdy." Charlotte crossed her arms, frowning. "And he clings to me like a motherless li'l puppy dog!"

"Puppies are cute," said Tiana, shrugging. "And Travis has some redeeming qualities. He's very smart!"

"But he's as tasteless as a burnt tongue. No fashion sense whatsoever."

"He's not green," Tiana said, laughing. "He's not covered in mucous." Charlotte shrugged as Tiana went on. "He doesn't use his tongue to catch flies."

"That I'm not too sure about."

"Oh, Lottie," Tiana said. "He isn't that bad."

"How about you give him a chance?" Eudora suggested. "You might actually end up liking him."

"How about me and Rudy Valée!" Charlotte exclaimed, desperately trying to push Travis out of the conversation. "Ain't he the bee's knees? Now that's a match made in heaven!"

Tiana laughed, bringing the spoon to her mouth. She added a few of her signature drops of her tabasco sauce into the pot.

"Definitely," she agreed, humoring Charlotte. "I can hear the bells now."

-2,507 words-

Author's Note: Aw, I thought this was a cute one!

Now, before anyone says anything, yes, there are some continuity issues in comparison to the film. In the movie, it seemed as though Tiana and Naveen's second wedding occurred right after they were turned human. Like, as soon as they got out of the bayou, they were in the church ready to get hitched. It did work, in the context of the movie, and for a fairy tale, and for it simply being Disney, but, I personally was not too fond of it. I wanted to give them a few months of being engaged.

Also, may I take the time out to say how much I love writing Lottie? If there are any characterization flaws, do not hesitate to critique them.

Hope you guys liked it!

Read, review, and critique, please!

-vee.